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Léan's tail flicked back and forth underwater as he ate. He seemed distracted for a moment. Then, he swallowed and cleared his throat. "Do you know when you will be getting me out of here?" he asked, softly.
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Emy looked thoughtful for a bit, then nodded slightly. "I might be able to get you out in a couple day...I still have to call my uncle...though I can;t do it from home. I'm the only one in my family that knows where he is....he's sort of....wanted. You know, but the police." She shrugged slightly. "I can't call from my own phone either." She sat down on the walkway. "I stayed up last night trying to plan out how to bust you out of here, but any farther than the aquarium is up to my uncle."
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Léan nodded slowly, closing his eyes. "All right. I can wait a few more days. But not more than a week...I think I'll die in here..." he whispered, turning up so he could float on his back.
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Emy stared at him, scared and sad at the same time. "Die? Why would you die?"
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"From tradition passed down in my kind, when we are captured--privately or publicly--and placed in captivity, unless it is in open ocean, we grow sick and die," Léan replied, softly. He did seem a tad less active than he had been yesterday, or the day before. He'd been curled up on the rocks, sleeping most of the time...
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Emy looked like she might cry, then shook her head hard and looked determined. "I'm not going to let you die. I'm going to get you out of here. No matter what it takes."
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Léan sighed heavily, then nodded. "I will hold you to that...the longest one of us has lasted in captivity is a week and a half..."
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Emy nodded seriously. She wouldn't let herself fail him either. "I'll tell my uncle its urgent then when I talk to him. He owes me." She chewed on the inside of her cheek and closed her eyes as she tried to consentrate.
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Léan nodded, watching her curiously. He rested his elbows on the edge of the walkway, since it was becoming tiring for him to keep himself afloat. He really was losing strength, and rapidly...
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Emy then looked at him when she felt he was closer to her. "You won't last a week....will you?" She could tell now that he looked terrible.
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"Probably not a week more...I am young, and not as strong as an adult." Léan was a bit paler than usual. "Including the days I had not been on display, I've been here...for about five days..."
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Emy's eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet. "I have to hurry then." She looked at him for a moment. "Try to eat as much as you can and rest. Okay?" She dumped the rest of the bucket into the water. "I'll see you tonight, I have to call my uncle." She turned to leave.
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"All right...take care." Léan ducked back under to hunt down the fish. He would need his strength if he was going to last another few days. He was concerned about dying, of course, but he wasn't going to give up just yet.
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Emy dropped the bucket in the side room and practically ran out of the back and out of the aquarium. She got into her car and took out a prepaid cell and called her uncle.
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Léan found the strength to eat up all of the fish Emy had left for him. Then, almost completely drained, he laid himself out on the rocks, tail curled around his body like a warm blanket.
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Emy argued with her uncle for hours on the best way to get Léandre out and to the ocean.
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Léan, thankfully, spent the rest of the day sleeping and regaining strength. He would not move much, unless he needed to. He really missed the ocean. The lack of pure ocean water, no additives, was really wearing on him. It was like a human in a closed space breathing 90% of other useless gases and 10% of the oxygen and gases they needed.
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Emy got something to eat at the aquarium, never actually leaving the parking lot. She then went back to Léandre's tank about an hour before she was supposed to, but everyone was clearing out. She came up the ramp quickly and move down the walkway, squatting and looked down at him.
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Léan was fast asleep, curled up tightly. A disturbance in the water would most likely wake him up. He was still breathing. The barely-there gills on his neck were moving back and forth.
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Emy watched him for a moment, but decided not to wake him up just yet. She went back inside and set up for tomorrow. She'd break him out tomorrow night, her uncle would be in the parking lot with whatever vehicle he could find appropriate to transport him.
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Léan slept on. His dreams were of the open ocean, of seeing his brother again. He was sure his brother and his mate--the reason he'd gone to visit his brother in the first place...he had just heard of his new mate and wanted to see this person--were worried about him.
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After awhile Emy came back, looking a little worn out. She sat on the walkway and watched him sleep for a little while. Then gently put her hand in the water and lightly swished it around.
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Léan jolted awake, blinking around sleepily. When he noticed her, he lazily floated to the top of the tank, gripping the walkway for support. "Hello..." he sounded weary.
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Emy leaned back a little. "Sorry for waking you...you looked like you needed the sleep....what were you dreaming about? Just curious." She smiled a little, happy to know that he had a good chance of getting out of here. Even though he looked terrible.
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"My brother. And I was trying to imagine what his mate looked like..." Léan was trying to remember if his brother was into males or females. In his world, any couple could have children. Males could get pregnant, and females could impregnate.
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