The beach is empty. All the tourists have likely gone back to their hotels for the night; locals know not to be out because of the snakes and other nightly beach predators. However, it isn’t that dark yet and I’m not quite ready to return home. The sun is barely visible above the water line, staining the sky a deep magenta and providing just enough light to see by. No doubt Sophie will be angry if I'm late, I promised not to be long. But the sand feels so good beneath my toes, warm but not scorching like during the day, and I'm reluctant to leave. I walk along the waterline, far enough to be out of the water, but close enough for the waves to brush my skin. Further out, a pair of dolphins break the surface and some sea birds fly low against the water in hopes of catching their dinner. Everything is peaceful. I dig my toes into the sand and sigh. It’s moments like these that I wish would last forever. They never do, unfortunately, and just as I turn to head home before Sophie begins to panic, the earth begins to shake. I stumble and fall to my knees. The ground around me begins to crack and crumble, sand spilling into a widening crevice. I stand shakily, only to be thrown backwards. I scrape at loose sand, my legs kicking freely in an attempt to gain a hold to pull myself out. What is going on? I’m familiar with earthquakes and it is not actually possible for the earth to split open like this. I slip on the sand, fall deeper until my fingers are just barely holding me up.

A dream. I realize. It makes sense. At least I certainly hope it is. Without much other choice, I let go of the edge and allow myself to fall.

My eyes snap open. I'm underwater. The realization startles me before I remember where I am and relax. That’s the first time I’ve ever had a dream and been able to realize, while in it, that I am dreaming. The dream itself was strange too, I don’t often dream of plummeting to my death. Though, I suppose it mirrors my life lately. Life was good, I was happy, just like on that beach. However, everything changed when I woke up here. It was like an earthquake ravaged through everything good. Now there’s no way back to my old life. In a way, I suppose I did fall to my death. Or at least Katie did.

“Bailey,” I whisper the name to myself. It seems foreign. I can’t picture myself answering to it. I sigh. There’s no point worrying about it. I doubt there are going to be people addressing me directly very often.

The young mermaid suddenly shifts in her sleep, startling me. I’d forgotten she was there, still pressed against me. She stretches out, the tips of her fin curl in, then flick back out, and she scrunches up her nose before rolling onto her other side and falling still. I smile. She looks peaceful and content. I hope that her dreams are better than her waking world. At least that way she’ll get some happiness. Suzie. That’s what Dr. Patron had wanted to call her and I wonder if I should call her by it too. It’s not as if I know her real one. Then again, I don’t even know if she can speak or understand English. I long to talk to her and find out, but I'm afraid of spooking her. If mermaids have their own language and I start talking in a human one, she might think I am one or was raised around them. Both are true, or at least the first one used to be true, but she might not trust me if she knew the truth and I desperately want to be her friend. I don’t want to be alone and I don’t want that for her either. Eventually I'll break down and speak with her or she may speak to me, in whatever language she does know, but for now; I'm content with body language talking for me.

I glance around and nearly jump out of my skin when I see people on the other side of the glass. I had thought that we were alone. Jenny and Dr. Auldon are in the room though, Jenny is hanging back and Dr. Auldon is staring at the control panel on the side of the tank.

“Miss Barnes, why is the temperature of this tank so low?” He demands.

“I didn’t touch the settings,” Jenny replies, walking over to him. “It must have been Dr. Patron who changed it.”

“Then I wonder why they are in this tank. Both come from the south and are used to much warmer tropical temperatures. So why have they chosen to sleep in the colder water?”

“You know,” Jenny begins. “I bet the younger one was afraid to jump. Earlier it was to save Bailey, but she seems terrified to disobey. Not that I blame her. I hope it’s not too out of line, but Dr. Patron doesn’t seem like the most understanding or caring person. He seems to look for any excuse to punish her and leaving the tank he put her in seems like something that would provoke him. I bet Bailey jumped to return the favor of saving her life, by sharing her body heat with the younger one.”

“Suzie, Miss Barnes, the mermaid’s name is Suzie, and you give their intelligence far too much credit. However, they do seem to be warming up to one another much faster than I hoped and clearly the heightened glass does little to separate them. I believe we are free to open the grate once we get this tank’s temperature back to normal. Get on that,” he orders. His words intrigue me and I look around. Sure enough there is a barred gate joining the two tanks together, but it appears to be sealed so that there can be two different water types and or temperatures. I watch as Jenny plays with the settings.

There’s a loud noise, like a furnace coming on, and she nods and walks away. The noise wakes the other mermaid and she jumps, clearly frightened. I wrap my arms around her and bury my nose in her hair. I give her a little squeeze in hopes of reassuring her. She pulls against me arms and I let her sit up. She turns to face me, clearly surprised that I'm still here. I offer her a smile, one that she hesitantly returns. The corners of her mouth lift, and while it’s barely a smile, it’s probably the closest I'm going to get. She rubs at her arms, but at least she isn't shivering anymore and the temperature seems to be getting warmer now.

A shrill whistle makes me look up. I can see Jenny’s reflection on the water. I push off the ground and begin to swim up. My arm is grabbed and I'm pulled back down. The mermaid snorts and shakes her head, her eyes wide. She almost seems to be begging me not to go up there. She probably doesn’t realize that Jenny won’t hurt her. I wave an arm in an attempt to get her to follow me. She shakes her head again and lowers herself down against the floor. She tugs on my wrist in a last attempt to get me to stay. I squeeze her shoulder and offer her another smile before I head to the surface. I shake water from my eyes when I break the surface of the water. Jenny kneels down to my height. “Good morning,” she greets. “Dr. Auldon left, you're okay. So how come you're over here?”

“She looked really cold,” I whisper, not wanting the other mermaid to hear me speaking a human language. “I didn’t want her to freeze.”

“I thought so. Is the water warming up any?”

I nod. “Uh-huh.”

“Good. I'm going to raise the gate and join the two tanks so you don’t have to jump.”

“I know; I heard you talking to Dr. Auldon about it.”

“You could hear us?” Jenny asks. “The glass is really thick; I didn’t think you’d be able to hear anything.”

“Well then mermaids must have much better hearing than people because I could hear you clearly.”

“Why are you whispering? No one is in here, you won’t get into trouble.”

“I know, but I don’t want her to hear. I'm worried that if I talk to her, she might be freaked out. She seems to be really afraid of people. I can’t imagine what Dr. Patron did to her. But I don’t want her to think she can’t trust me because I speak a human language,” I explain.

“Hmm. She is intelligent then?”

I nod. “Definitely.”

“Has she shown any signs that she understands English?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, but she hasn’t attempted to speak it.”

“Has she spoken in any other language? Maybe mermaids have their own,” Jenny suggests.

“No. She hasn’t made a sound at all,” I say. “But if she does have her own language, do you think I will be able to understand her? A language barrier would be hard to overcome,” I admit.

“I don’t know, but I'm sure you’d figure it out if you can’t. Look, I called you up here to show you this.” She nudges a green plastic basket. It looks like it’s full of aquatic toys. I note a couple of balls, a noodle, a toy boat, some sink and retrieve toys, along with some other things. “Some of it is a little young for you, but I’d imagine it’s better than nothing. Besides, I don’t think your friend often gets to be in a tank this big, and I doubt she’s ever allowed to play with anything. I was thinking that maybe you could show her some of this stuff and play with her. Give her something to do so that she isn't so down. She looks really sad,” Jenny explains.

I nod. “I will. Thank you, no one else would have bothered.”

She smiles. “Just put everything back when you’re done,” she says. I watch her leave before pulling the basket closer and rummaging around inside.

I scoop up an armful of chosen toys and dive back down. I hover, midway through the tank, above her and drop the submersible toys around her. A golf ball, a weighted toy shark, a plastic starfish, and a rubber ring, the kind you through around and try to catch that’s just big enough to fit over your wrist, all fall in a circle around her. Startled, she looks around and then up. I smile at her and dive deeper so I can rest at the bottom of the tank with her. She hesitantly reaches out and touches the shark. When it doesn’t move, she scoops it up and begins to examine it. I pick up the orange ring and set it on her head. She glances at me with a confused look. As she moves, the ring slides off her head and into her lap. She jumps and stares at the object. Dropping the shark, she picks up the new toy and looks at it closely. A moment later she holds it up to me and tilts her head. I smile and take her arm, pulling her to the surface. Panic crosses her features, but she does not attempt to pull away from me either. When we break the surface, she glances around and relaxes. The room is empty. I toss the ring up into the air and catch it, before doing it again. Her eyes widen as she watches it spin through the air. I catch it again and offer it to her. She takes it and hesitantly tosses it. The ring barely leaves her hand, but she seems to get more confidence, throwing it higher and higher. She throws it again and I leap out of the water, catch the ring, and splash back down behind her. She spins to face me and I hold it out. When she goes to take it, I pull my arm back. I do it again and then wave the ring around teasingly. She huffs and lunges for it. I dive down, determined to win the game of keep away. What I didn’t expect was for her to be so fast. Within seconds she has her arms around me and is reaching for the ring. I twist and use my free hand to tickle her sides. A stream of bubbles leaves her nose and she pulls back. I speed ahead again. It isn't long before she gives chase.

She eventually pins me against the floor and claims her prize. She seems happy, but for some reason her eyes widen and she backs off, instantly looking scared and sad again. I frown.

Does she think I'm mad because she got it? Maybe it was when she pinned me. Either way, I'm certain that in her eyes, she’s done something wrong. I wrap her in a hug. It’s okay. I’m never going to hurt you or freak out at you for anything. I hesitate to actually speak the words though. The hug will have to do for now. It works though and she relaxes. The second her guard is down, I snatch the ring and take off again, sticking my tongue out at her as I swim off. She gives chase again and gets a hold of the ring faster this time. She looks back at me, a genuine smile on her face. She’s lit up with happiness, a joy she probably hasn’t felt in a long time. That smile makes me never want to stop playing with her, never want to do anything that would make it slip. So I smile back and attempt to chase her down.

Later, once we’ve exhausted ourselves and the toys have been put back in the basket, we simply lie on the floor. My tail is stretched out and her head is resting on it. I can feel her finger tracing the pattern of my scales. It tickles, badly, but I don’t want to disturb her. Eventually I can’t take it anymore and I run my fingers through her hair, even as I shudder. She stops and glances up at me. I offer her a smile and she returns it. I take a deep breath and gather my courage. I’ll just have to continue to show her that she can trust me. I sit up a little bit and pull her closer. I rub her scalp with my fingers and she instantly relaxes.

“I’m glad I met you,” I whisper as I bury my nose in her hair. I can’t actually smell underwater like I can above it, but the water carries scents that I can almost sense. I don’t understand how, but I can determine scents and her hair smells good. I feel her stiffen as I speak. “Please don’t ever be afraid of me, I'm never, ever going to hurt you. Look, I need to tell you something. I'm not who you probably think I am. I'm not a mermaid. I was born human. The scientists kidnapped me too, just like they did to you. They used your DNA to make me like you. I don’t know if you can understand English, but I want you to know that I want to be your friend.” I hug her tightly and hope that she doesn’t pull away. She remains frozen in place for a while before she twists in my grip and hugs me back, burying her nose in the crook of my neck. I know that now would be the time to ask. I pull her away from me, hold her at arm’s length, and meet her gaze. “Can you understand me?”

She stares into my eyes before directing her gaze to her lap. She gives me the tiniest of nods. Relief floods me and I hug her again.

“So do mermaids have their own language?” she shakes her head. “They speak English too?” I get a nod. “Well that makes things a little easier. What’s your name?” I ask her. She doesn’t respond. I hesitate. “Do mermaids have names?” She nods. I frown, then realize. “Is it that you have been here so long that you’ve forgotten it?” I ask. Again I get a nod. “Oh. I'm sorry. Do you maybe want to pick out a new one?” I get a shrug. “Are you okay?” I ask. “You haven’t said a word. Why won't you talk to me?”

She meets my gaze, taps on her throat, and shakes her head.

“You can’t,” I whisper. “You can’t speak, you're mute.” She nods again and hangs her head. I catch her chin and bring her gaze back to mine. “You know, when I was younger, I had a friend who was deaf, she couldn’t hear, and our other friend, Abby, and I learned sign language so we could speak to her. Sign language was designed for people who couldn’t hear or speak, it’s like talking with your hands,” I explain, demonstrating the sign to each word I say. “If you want, I can teach you so you have a form of communication.”

Hope shines in her eyes and she nods. She hugs me tightly.

“Alright. Tomorrow, I'll start teaching you as much as I can, okay? For now, since you can’t remember yours, you need a name. Would you be okay with picking a new one? Something I can call you by. If you ever remember yours or we meet someone who used to know you, than you can go back to your old one.”

She nods.

“Do you have anything in mind?” She shakes her head. “Okay, do you want me to give you some suggestions?” She pauses for a moment. Then she shakes her head and simply points to me. “You want me to just pick?” I ask, wondering why she’d want that. She nods and cuddles into me again. I stare at her, long and hard. What would be a name she might like? I scan over every little detail of her. Then something pops into my head. I don’t know why I think of it, it’s not very oceany at all, but I suppose it might fit. “How about Luna?” I ask. Every time I look at her, despite the blue of her scales, I think of the moon and I can’t figure out why.

She sits up at stares at me, her eyes wide and far away. I wonder what she’s thinking. Suddenly a grin spreads across her face and she nods. She tackles me into another hug and I laugh and hug her back.

“I’ve always wanted a little sister,” I tell her. I realize it’s true. I’ve only known her for a day, but already I consider her family. The family I choose to love. And I know I’d do just about anything for her.