The more she looked, the more fascinated she became.
It really did look like they were playing.
She forgot, very conveniently, that fish usually did not behave like that. She forgot that this was strange. She forgot that she was supposed to stay where she could be seen. She forgot all those promises because at that moment she was simply a pampered, curious little girl from a sci-fi world who had lived a sheltered life and knew almost nothing about river creatures except that some of them were apparently adorable.
The fish leapt again.
Lin Huahua giggled and took a step closer.
Then another.
The water touched her toes.
Cool.
She smiled more brightly and kept watching.
Far beneath the surface, something watched her back.
