"Here, try to write these words next."

Erika dipped the quill into the ink pot, before copying out the text of a poem onto a blank sheet of parchment. Feliciano's hand stayed close to hers, ready to direct her, though she had picked up on this rather quickly.

Her first day in the human realm had been overwhelming and confusing, and she had been fortunate to have Natalya find her where the water reached the shore. She had been kind enough to give Erika food, to be her guide and to find her some help in Niba. Erika's luck had compounded when they found Feliciano at the castle, and his brother offered to let them both stay as guests for a few nights.

From there, she found that the best choice of action was to let everyone else lead her wherever she needed to go. Her first bath was quite peculiar at first, but she was surprised how these special lotions made her hair feel as smooth on dry land as it had been in the water. Meals were peculiar as well, she waited to see others pick up their utensils to lift food into their mouths before doing so herself.

The biggest discovery she had made so far was the castle's library and all its books. She had seen books before, while exploring shipwrecks in the sea, but the text would always be already washed away from whatever was left of the pages. She was fascinated to see all the symbols fully intact on these pages, and Feliciano picked up on her curiosity. With a series of yes and no questions, Erika was successfully able to inform Feliciano that she did not know how to read or write.

Which led to this moment now. At first, Feliciano had sat her down with this book of poetry and fables, and pointed out the words with his fingers as he read along. This helped lift the veil from Erika's eyes, and she picked up on what the text was saying very quickly. After a while, Feliciano brought over a quill, an inkpot and some empty parchment, and guided her hand to write some of these letters and symbols herself.

They had spent the entire day in the library at this point, only being interrupted by Laura bringing them a platter of food and drinks for their lunch. Between reading the text and writing it, Erika was beginning to understand how this written language worked, and perhaps even some of the trends in which letters meant to convey which sounds in speech.

Perhaps this was exactly what she needed to communicate with Feliciano, along with everyone else.

"Well done," Feliciano applauded as she finished writing the last sentence, "That was perfect, you're getting very good at this!"

Feeling ambitious, Erika moved the quill and wrote something else below the last line of text.

Thank you

"Thank you!" Feliciano recognized, "Oh, you figured out that one too, that's splendid! Are there any other words you'd like to try?"

Erika nodded, and Feliciano quickly whipped that sheet of parchment away and replaced it with a fresh one.

"Here you go," Feliciano offered, "Write whatever you like!"

She tapped the feathered end of her quill at the side of her face, pondering what to write first. Perhaps it was best to start with a basic introduction, so she decided to write her name.

Erika

"Erika," Feliciano acknowledged, "Your name is Erika? That's a lovely name, I'm glad to finally know what to call you!"

Erika smiled at that, bolstered by his excitement to continue writing. This time, she chose an even bolder statement.

We met once before

"We met once before," Feliciano considered, "Wait, have we? I'm very sorry, but I don't recall that event. I will say, when we met yesterday, you looked a lot like someone else I recently met, but -"

As Feliciano rambled, Erika wrote down another word that silenced him immediately when he read it.

Mermaid

"Mermaid?" Feliciano realized, "How can that be? You're here with me now as a human. You weren't wearing shoes when you arrived, I clearly saw your human feet."

Erika wrote a few more words to clarify how it was indeed possible.

Sea-witch

Spell

Exchange voice for legs

During the few moments Feliciano stared at the words in silent bafflement, Erika gently placed the quill down on the table.

"You went to a sea-witch for a spell?" Feliciano finally deciphered, "You traded your voice to get human legs? So it really was you that rescued me from drowning in the storm?"

Erika enthusiastically nodded as Feliciano correctly put the pieces together.

"I can't believe this," Feliciano rambled enthusiastically, grabbing her hands as he did so, "I've been waiting patiently to see you appear in the waters again, here on the shores of Niba. I was hoping to speak to you again, to thank you for rescuing me! And here you are, turning yourself human so we can meet again!"

Erika's heart soared as Feliciano spoke, this was what she had been hoping for when she risked becoming a human to find him again.

"I would love to know why you did it," Feliciano requested as he let go of one of her hands to grab the quill, "Why did you rescue me from the shipwreck, and save me from drowning? And why did you turn into a human to come find me again?"

As he offered her the quill, Erika's moment of delight crashed into oblivion as fear took over completely. How could she possibly explain her choices that led to this moment? Could she simply say it was her curiosity in humanity, or should she be outright in her interest and possible attraction to Feliciano herself? Was she even ready to do so? And what would he say if she did?

She did not reach to take the quill, but remained frozen in place as her smile fell and her cheeks became warm with a blush as she just stared at it instead. Feliciano sighed, and she glanced back at him to see a look of dismay on his own face, which made her heart sink further.

"I'm sorry, I asked too much of you," Feliciano apologized, "You only just learned to read and write, enough to convey in a few short words who you are. Your reasons must be too complex to write out just yet, am I right?"

Erika hesitantly nodded, which Feliciano gently smiled at.

"Don't worry, we can take our time," Feliciano comforted, "When you're ready, and you know the words you need, you can write it all out for me. How does that sound?"

Erika nodded to that idea. She still felt disappointed about not being able to tell him everything, but at least Feliciano was being patient and kind about it.

"In the meantime, that might be enough writing and reading for today," Feliciano redirected as he placed the quill back on the table, "If you only just became human a couple days ago, there must be so many things about our ways that you'd like to learn. Why don't I take you around the castle and explain to you what things are and how they work?"

Erika nodded, and rose from her seat as Feliciano guided her up.

"Let's go then!" Feliciano led the way with a big smile back on his face.

A smile so infectious that Erika could only smile back.