He wants the girl to come back, but he doesn't wait for her. He has a new place to explore, fish to chase, plants to swim through, pretty rocks to find. The pond isn't as big as it could be, but it is a lot bigger than the tank was. He spends some time looking around, but soon after, he grows tired, and decides that sleep is a good idea. He doesn't know if it's safe, but he feels safer here than he ever did outside of the ocean before. He thinks about building a nest out of the plants. He thinks about finding that perfect place that gets a bit of sunlight, where he can see the stars at night, but where he also can't be seen. He decides that he's too tired for it right then and there. He's been sleeping without a nest since they took him out of the ocean, he can keep doing it for one night.
Tomorrow, he decides. Tomorrow, he will find the perfect place, and pick the perfect plants and rocks. Tonight, he twirls around in the water, happy that he can, and settles into an area with plants that are long and sway. He can feel their stems flutter against his skin, and it feels so good to be touched gently and not hit, even if it is just plants. He misses normal touching. Mer touch all the time. They poke and prod and caress and comfort. They like touching, and so does he.
He falls asleep looking upward, at the long hands of the plants reach ever higher, and at the glittering of the stars as they look down at him.
The next morning, he is woken by the sound of something splashing. He is instantly awake, and frightened, and he moves in a panic, bumping his head painfully on some rocks, trying to hide. Once he's in the farthest spot of the pond from where the sound was, he realizes just how panicked he is, and tries to slow his racing heart.
He forgot about the pond, and about how he isn't in the tank anymore. He also forgot that if any human wants to get him now, they'd have to work much harder. The pond is much too deep for humans to reach into. He repeats all of these very logical things in his head, but it takes him a long time to calm down. He curls up into a ball, holding his tail fin, trying to be as small as possible, and tries to keep his gills from their fluttering panic.
He is finally calming down when he hears the girl. Or, he thinks it's the girl. He slowly untucks his head from nestling it into his tail fin, and looks up. He doesn't see her on the piece of land over the water, but he can hear her calling. He wonders if it's a bird, and not the girl, but as she keeps calling, his curiosity gets the better of him. He uncurls and slowly swims to the surface. He makes sure that he is at the far end of the pond, far away from where the sound is coming from, before popping the upper part of his head out of the water. He also makes sure that he make as little sound as possible. If it isn't the girl, or even if it is the girl, but she has those big men with her, he doesn't want to be seen.
But when he looks, it is only the girl. He is thankful, but he stays at the far end of the pond, keeping an eye on her just in case. He remembers her well, and that he likes her, but he also knows better than to trust humans. Thankfully, she doesn't see him, and as she calls out, he remains as still as he can so that she doesn't see him.
The little girl keeps calling and calling, her long hair fluttering around her, as she looks for him. After a long time of not being answered, she starts walking to the land over the water. It is to high up for him to reach her there, not that he'd want to. But she is going to be higher, and over the water, it will be easy for her to see him from up there, and he isn't sure he wants to be found. He doesn't think she will hurt him, she doesn't look big enough for it, but it is always better to be cautious.
Quietly he slips back below the water, and finds a spot under the piece of land, where she won't be able to see him. It is a dark spot, the water is colder because the sun doesn't reach there, but he doesn't care. He can feel the vibrations of her little feet as she pads up onto the bit of land. She keeps calling, making the same sound over and over again. He wonders if it means to come, or if it means something else. He thinks he can remember that word, if he tries.
She stops right at the middle of the piece of land, and keeps calling. He wonders if she is going to give up or stay. He really wants her to stay, but he isn't sure he wants to be seen either. His spot is ideal for hiding but as time stretches on, he finds it very boring to just sit there. He wishes he could still see her, so ever so slowly, he pokes his head out from under the land. She must have thought he'd been hiding there, because the second his head pokes out her eyes are on him, glittering. He is so startled that he ducks back down into the water, and swims deeper into the pond.
He intends to stay down at the bottom, but about half way down, he stops, and looks back up. He can hear the girl calling, and he can even see her hanging her head over the little strip of land. He reminds himself that he is not afraid of the girl, that she just startled him. He reminds himself that if she leaves, he will be alone, and he doesn't want that either.
Unsure of his decision, he turns back around, and swims cautiously back up. He pokes his head out of the water, and looks up at her. She smiles back down at him, and her eyes sparkle, just like they did before. He has made her happy.
She sits down on the piece of land above the water, and dangles her two little legs over the edge. Part of him feels that is to close, and he backs away on instinct, ducking his head so that only his eyes are above water peering up at her. She looks at him with curiosity, and the smile on her face doesn't go away. She starts to chatter at him, her lips moving so fast that he gets dizzy watching them. As he sits there and watches her, he decides that she is strange. He doesn't know what she wants, she has no reason to be there. He reminds himself that humans are strange. They had no reason to take him from the ocean, but they did. It would have made sense if they had eaten him. Instead, they just tore out his claws, and put him in a cage.
It suddenly makes sense that the girl is also human. What she does makes no sense either. She just sits there, chattering and chattering. Is she asking for things? Does she want him to do something? She needs to do better if he is going to ever understand her. He wants to be able to ask her why she is there. He doesn't want her to leave, but sitting there making noise looks very boring to him. Even though he thinks that, he is sure he could listen to her voice all day. Still, sitting is boring.
He still has a lot of exploring to do. He'd gone to sleep early the day before, so he didn't take the time to look around. He needs to now, but the girl is there. There are many reasons why he doesn't want to just leave her. She stayed a long time looking for him -he isn't sure how he knows this, but he does know it- and now that she has found him, she keeps chattering, and making happy noises. He thinks if he stops looking at her, or paying attention, she might leave. He doesn't know why she came, but he knows she came for him. It doesn't make sense, but he has already decided that humans don't make sense. So maybe it does make sense, in some strange twisted human way.
He also needs to make a nest, and he doesn't want her to see that. He doesn't want her, or any human, to see where his nest will be. It needs to be secret, so that it will be safe. He has also never made a nest before, he doesn't think his first try will be very good, so he doesn't want her to see for that reason. Human things are big and fancy and pretty. Even if he doesn't like humans, the nests and places they make are very nice. Like the land over the water. He doesn't know how they make things like that, but they do. The ugly little nest he is going to make is probably going to make her laugh, and he doesn't want her to laugh at him.
These things filter through his head, and his tail flicks with anxiety. Before he knows it, his fingers are creeping upward, to his mouth. Once he realizes it, he shoves them back down into the water. His hands are useful, he needs them to catch fish, and to make nests. He tells himself that he isn't allowed to gnaw on them anymore when he is nervous. Does the girl make him nervous? The simple answer is yes. She just keeps sitting up there, swinging her dangly human legs, chattering in her beautiful bird voice. He doesn't know what she wants, doesn't know why she came. He knows enough to be suspicious, but maybe he isn't smart enough to want her to leave. He doesn't know. He should want her to leave, so he can explore the pond, and make his nest, but he doesn't want her to leave. Maybe the humans are contagious, he doesn't feel like he's making sense.
He wants to think more about this, to keep watching the girl and her strange human legs, when he hears the sound of footsteps. He knows them instantly. Another human is coming. Without thinking too much about it, he dives back under the water, and hides. The girl calls after him, but he doesn't come. He can see her from where he is, and he is sure she can see him too, but he doesn't want any other human to see him. She is still looking at him, but then her head turns to the direction where the footsteps came from. There is another voice, this one is older. The other human and the girl talk for a little bit, before the girl gets up, and walks off the land. She walks out of sight, and he carefully ventures upward to see her. He makes sure that he is still hiding, but he can see a human woman waiting for the girl. The girl reaches the other human, and is ushered away, into the gaping mouth of the human place. Before the girl is completely out of sight, she turns, and looks back for him. He doesn't know if she sees him, but she say the same thing she had been calling before, and waves her hand. Then she turns, and is gone with the other human.
He should be happy, because now he can explore in peace, and can make his nest in a safe place that no one will find. He should be happy, but he is not.