When I woke up again, I felt good. My body felt great, and I didn't think it was just because of some sort of drugs this time. Something in my chest had eased as well, and as I opened my eyes, I smiled at seeing the Officer still beside my bed, working on some sort of tablet with one hand while his other was clasped in mine.
"Thank you for staying with me," I said quietly, smiling at him and hoping my intent would come across even if we didn't understand each other's words.
He smiled back at me, looking so much like Papa in that moment that happy tears threatened to come to my eyes, but I pushed them back. I'd done quite enough crying recently, after all, and I could see stains on his uniform from earlier. He tugged gently at my hand, and I reluctantly let his go. He fiddled with his tablet for a moment, and then showed me the screen, where the outline of a somewhat generic man and woman were shown.
"Ian," he said, pointing to the man, before shifting to the woman, "Gsian."
Ah, it was time for language lessons then.
"Man, Woman," I replied, pointing to the one, then the other, before trying to repeat his words, "Eyan, giseyan?"
He chuckled a little, then nodded, before changing the image to one of a house, and the lesson continued.
"Weiss."
"You asked for me, father?" Weiss replied respectfully as she entered her father's study.
"Yes," Jacques Schnee replied, studying his younger daughter over folded hands, "I have been made aware of certain developments lately by one of our researchers. In addition, I understand you have found your patience somewhat taxed lately by your limited pool of peers."
"I do see a rather limited pool of faces amongst our customary social gatherings," Weiss said carefully after a few moment's thought on how to word things.
"I quite understand," Jacques said, his tone suggesting he was sympathetic, "An unusual young lady has come to the attention of the military lately, and will shortly be moved to one of our research facilities. Some of the details are classified, but I understand she is an exceptionally lonely young lady, and given her origins, I believe you would find her quite the contrast to your usual peers."
Weiss' expression remained one of polite interest as she thought over her father's words. It was clear he wished her to "befriend" the girl, which meant she or her family were useful business or political contacts. Perhaps the relative of a council member? Weiss already knew all of those within her general age bracket, so perhaps a relative of a recently-promoted officer? Regardless, though she knew his professed consideration for her own feelings was little more than words, she could find no reason to deny him in this.
Besides, if the girl was so important, she would doubtless be meeting the children of other "worthies" of Atlesian high society soon, and if the girl was bearable, Weiss could try to save her from that pack of piranhas.
"I'd love to meet this young lady," Weiss said with a practiced smile, "There should be time within my schedule tomorrow afternoon, unless my fencing instructor has recovered from her illness."
"Excellent," Jacques said with an equally-practiced smile, "I'll have Klein arrange suitable transport."
"Thank you, Doctor Blonde," I said, and while my pronunciation was a little off, she clearly understood what I was saying.
"You're welcome, Haruka," She returned with a smile, before chewing out a phrase I didn't understand.
"Again?" I asked with an apologetic smile.
"Haruka," she said, before pointing at me, "You. Are you hungry?"
She mimed putting something into her mouth, chewing, and swallowing, and I thought what she meant was fairly obvious.
"Haruka," I replied, nodding, before miming using chopsticks to raise food to my mouth, then chewing and swallowing, "You are hungry."
"No," she said, smiling and chuckling a little, tapping herself, "Me," then pointing to me, "You, are hungry."
She mimed eating again, so I was fairly sure I'd gotten that at least partially right. Perhaps the other part was pronouns? Also, I wasn't actually hungry; my digestive system was almost vestigial at this point, after spending so long being fed through an IV, it would probably take a carefully-graduated diet, working from juices, through baby food, to real food, before I would start feeling proper hunger again. I hoped the hospital staff had accounted for that; I really didn't want to go through days of malnutrition until I could communicate clearly with them.
The language lesson continued for a few more hours; I was surprised by how tired I wasn't getting, but I suspected that had to do with the light that Officer Ironwood had sparked in me. About an hour before the lesson was scheduled to end, it was interrupted by an unexpected arrival, and what I think might have been the first civilian aside from Doctor Blonde I'd seen since I arrived. Also, the first other adolescent.
"Hello," the girl who had just entered said as she stepped in, glancing back and forth between the doctor and myself, "I'm Weiss Schnee, I was told this was an acceptable time to come visit?"
I only understood maybe one in five of her words, though I was pretty sure I picked out her name, and she curtseyed as she introduced herself.
She was very pretty, and I thought she might be an albino given her white hair, but her eyes weren't pink. Perhaps she dyed it? Her outfit complimented her very well, a cute dress and jacket made of blue and white fading into each other, even if the jacket was one of those strange ones that didn't even cover her whole torso, much less hang down like a proper winter or raincoat.
"Hello Miss Schnee," Doctor Blonde greeted with the easy smile she usually wore, before gesturing towards me, "This is Haruka, we don't know her last name yet, she doesn't speak the common tongue. I am Doctor Angela Blonde, and I'm here to help her learn."
"What does she speak then?" Weiss asked, visibly surprised, "I had thought the linguistic merge was completed by the Great War."
"We're not entirely sure," Doctor Blonde replied with an unconcerned shrug, "General Ironwood said her background is currently classified, so I'm not entirely sure where they found her, but as you can see, she's been through a rough time."
Weiss winced a little as she crossed the room; the girl was emaciated; if not for the cheerful smile on her face, and the fact that she was already in a hospital, Weiss would have felt the urge to rush her to medical care immediately.
"How much does she understand?" Weiss asked.
"Only a couple hundred words so far," Doctor Blonde said, "But she's learning very quickly, I suspect she's something of a prodigy. It's very nice of you to come by Miss Schnee; I'm certain she could use company from someone her own age."
I didn't try to track the exchange completely; too many words I didn't understand were passing back and forth too quickly. One thing became obvious very quickly though; Weiss was tiny! As she crossed the room, I realized that not only was she very short, but that that was with heels on! My mental estimate of her age dropped from fifteen or so, down to thirteen; if she hadn't clearly entered puberty, I might have guessed even younger.
"I'm happy to meet you," I said in Japanese, extending my good hand to shake along with my best smile, before trying a few words in their language, "Good to hello."
A small snort escaped from Weiss involuntarily, and she blushed, clapping a hand to her face at the awkward greeting.
"That's one way to say 'nice to meet you,'" Doctor Blonde said with a smile, "Like I said, she's very clever. I think I'll go take a break, and ask the doctors if she's ready for solid food yet. Why don't you show her a thing or two on your scroll? She has some interesting things on hers, and an exchange of media is probably a good way to help build communication along some more."
With that, she stood and walked out of the room, leaving the two young women alone together. Something in Weiss loosened up a little at not being under adult surveillance while interacting with one of her peers for a change, and she slipped into the chair beside Haruka's bed the doctor had vacated.
"I don't suppose you secretly understand everything being said, and were just playing with the adults?" Weiss asked after a moment's thought.
"Sorry," Haruka said with an apologetic smile, "Too many words. What say?"
"That's what I thought," Weiss said with a wry smile, before pulling out her scroll, "I suppose the doctor's idea was as good as any. I suppose we might as well see what kind of music you like, hm?"
She sorted through her selection of stored music for something neither too "dull" nor too "outrageous", eventually settling on something a few years old with nice vocals.