A/N: Written as a Parallels 2016 exchange gift for inelegantly (Lir).

The waves rippled below her, a melody of twinkling droplets crashing under the pale streak of sunlight on the river's surface. Water swiftly gurgled down the stream and lapped at her skin. Gentle waves ghosted over her fingers. Swift and free, the impossibly glassy blue water raced over her palms and fingernails, caressing and cleansing the dirt on her fingers away.

But Umi was after a objection far greater simply waving good morning to the school of fish swimming through the middle of the river. In this place, this spot was her regular practice area where her magic was most in tune with the river from her calculations. Here, she would shine the brightest and hone the rough and tumble intricacies of her cryokinesis abilities into shape.

Bending the will of the temperatures to her command seemed a strange venture in a warm river. However, this would be good practice for her party's travel to a colder region in the future.

Kneeling next to Umi's side with her hands nestled in her lap, Eli watched Umi without a wavering gaze. Her face was an entire mask of courage and concentration only fit of the greatest archers on the battlefield. Eli had no doubts she would live up to that title. However, snippets of anxiety and frustration leaked through the façade, lacing fractions of self-doubt into Umi's equation.

"I can't believe this," Umi murmured.

Umi sighed. She hated to admit to defeat, but nothing was working. Earlier, she had managed to tighten the molecules in the water and force ice to condense, but the warm water had simply melted her efforts into jagged ice pieces that had floated away. She slumped back on the grainy sand on the riverbank and titled her head backwards to stare up at the clouds hovering above. Sitting in such a position was a disgrace—Umi should know how to work her magic, not stare at the sky as she meant to pray to a god to help her with such a feeble task—but the heat was getting to her. Strands of her hair matted to her forehead, a neat sheen of sweat dotting the curve of her hair and speaking volumes to her failure to control her body temperature into her hands properly.

Watching Umi perform was a ship of emotions upon itself, Eli relented. Umi was doing better than she thought. She wanted to say that her most promising apprentice quickly snapped to decisions and accomplished the task before her without any barricades. Umi, however, had missed one necessary step.

Eli scooted closer on her skirts and peered over Umi's shoulder. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "No good still?"

Umi jumped, concentration shattered.

"No good at all!" Umi retorted just a pitch too high. Hearing her own shrill voice, she shook her head vigorously. "Eli-sensei, I've tried tirelessly. I can't do this. Every time I try to force the molecules into an ice shield, or an arrow, the water refuses to cooperate with me. I've done everything you have told me."

"It's not like you to give up, Umi. If there's something I've taught you, there's always a workaround," Eli scolded lightly. She would never have taken on a pupil that gave up that easily, and Umi was definitely no pushover. All she needed was a nudge in the right direction. Still, her nervousness had stifled her fruits of labor. Being as calm and collected as she was, though, Eli marveled at the potential Umi could not see in herself and apply. "You have to realize that you are the root of the problem. It isn't nature's fault that you may not be able to chime in tune with her melodies."

Umi reached under the surface of the water once more and swirled her fingertip. Thoughtfully, she processed the temperature to herself; "24 °C." That was about the average for the riverfront on a pleasant summer's day. Foamy bubble rings followed the wake of her motions. "I'm dropping lower than this, but…"

Yes, perhaps it was time for Eli to pull out the big guns. After all, it was only a hint. "Let's see…" Eli proposed, tapping her chin.

Umi's eyes locked onto Eli's with renewed hope and inspiration. No, she did not expect handouts just because she was struggling with herself. She was prepared for any grueling task that her mentor had in store. After all, she had not been studying under Eli for long. Eli's bag of tricks had too many wonders for Umi to count on both hands. Eli was a polished fighter in combat, and while she did not normally take on apprentices like her, she trusted herself completely to her. Eli's victories were incomparable for her country and comrades; Umi only wished she could be like her.

That was why, when Eli reached into their supplies bag, Umi gripped her hands together so tightly red marks dented her palms. This was the moment she would prove herself and showcase her abilities to the umpteenth most degree! Umi watched with rapt fascination. Maybe she would pull out a stone, or a scroll, or even a— No, she pulled out something long and slender. Umi's ears perked up. Was that Eli's legendary wand—?

Umi's face went deadpan when she finally caught full sight of it.

Was that a brush!?

Umi stared at the soft-tipped white brush. Blue and purple flower patterns decorated the handle and back of the brush. Eli lightly stroked out golden locks of hair stuck in the brush's bristles, allowing them to fly like streaks of sunlight against the wind.

Baffled, Umi's eyes narrowed. Getting to the bottom of this was mandatory. "A brush? Eli-sensei, pardon me for asking, but why would you bring that out at a time like this?"

Eli giggled. Umi had just no idea, did she? "Isn't it obvious? I want to brush your hair," Eli said with any shame, all smiles.

Umi gaped at her. "Please be serious! You can't comb my hair at a crucial time like this. We have training to do, and you see how behind I am right now on my efforts, so please allow me—"

"Listen to me." Eli's soft voice carried weight this time, and she stared Umi square in the eye. Umi quieted immediately; this Eli was not one to trifle with so freely. "I think you need a break. Don't you trust that I will teach you a lesson? Then, let me help you."

Pouting slightly in shame, Umi peered down at the small school of red fish that had not gotten upstream yet. The fish zoomed through the reef of green and pink at the bottom of the river. The water was completely clear in such an unpolluted area without of villages or people who mean to cause it harm. Seeing the water tempt her made Umi itch to get back to work immediately, but… If she disobeyed Eli and disrupted the lesson, she may just miss out on an important lesson she could only teach her.

If Umi did that, how would she live with herself?

After Umi gave a hesitant nod of approval, Eli stood and sat in the emerald grass behind Umi. She carefully lifted midnight blue hair in her hands, ever beautiful and as shiny as a waterfall at sunset. She fanned it out over Umi's shoulders. Still tense, Umi chest rose and fell in exasperation. Eli applied the brush to her hair and ran the bristles through her strands in one stroke, then another.

"I thought it was very sunny and windy when we left, and I know how you hate to lose your appearance over the hot weather. Your body temperature rises and falls, too, and hair doesn't get spared. It always breaks your concentration the most when it's tangled. I only thought it might be necessary." Eli explained. "It's not fitting of an archer to care so much, but I can't let you lose your feminine charm."

Umi unfurled her hands from a ball she had not realized they were in on her lap. Being so picky about such trivial things was pointless, as Eli had said… But her cheeks colored. She bit her lip, not able to help it. "I—I'm grateful you thought of me."

Eli's smile widened. She patted the hair under her hand and smoothed out the tresses, rinse and repeat. Sometimes she wondered how Umi could keep her hair so radiant, smooth and regal. Most people complimented her hair for its rarity and foreign origins, but Umi's hair was truly a mystery, a treasure chest of secrets from under the depths of wide-open turbulent seas.

"Now that you've calmed down a bit," Eli said, "I don't think you are missing an understanding to the assignment. You are missing the steps to your surroundings. Water does work exactly in favor of the user without a complex knowledge of the water's flow and rhythm."

A curious frown flitted across Umi's features. That was the truth, but… Honestly, Eli was beginning to make little sense. Gritting her teeth, she shook her head and reprimanded herself for the very thought. Umi had made a grave error; one should not blame an elder for one's incompetence. "What 'steps' would those be, Eli-sense? I've tirelessly read all your notes. I've heard your lectures. I've mediated near the water for days just to understand the rush of the stream; I've stood under the waterfall and felt the water's might. That is the duty of the priests! How more can I understand the water better than they can?"

The brush glided through Umi's soft, billowing strands of hair now at a normal pace. The rise and fall of her shoulders pressed into Eli's elbows. For a moment, Eli relished in the moment of silence while Umi questioned deeper meanings to her powers and those in higher stations. Doing so was a good reminder.

That was, she kept it up until the brush came to a sudden halt.

Pain shot through Umi's head. The brush dug further into the little snag curled up behind the curtain of hair. Umi winced.

"Ow!" Umi yelped and jumped in place. She knocked back against Eli. "That's painful. Please be more careful from now on."

Grinning sheepishly as an apology, Eli raised the brush and removed it from Umi's hair. She placed it back at another angle to continue. Now, she worked on the right side.

"I'm sorry, I lost my attention for a second there," Eli said. When Umi made a coughing sound, she clarified, "Well, it was partly a mistake, but mistakes can become your greatest assets. I think it was just a good learning experience nonetheless."

Umi's gaze turned dangerously toward her. Thunderclouds hung over her head. "What involving pain gives me a good lesson to learn from? Like I said, I'm here to practice making weapons for battle. Not bask in the day like we are, Eli-sensei."

Eli tsked. "Exactly, this brush just became my weapon, I suppose. That pain tells you how you're behaving to the water."

Umi's eyebrows knitted. Brushes could not be weapons of any kind. "I believe I am behaving in a very decent manner."

"Yes, you are a perfect angel." Now, this was the meat and bones of the operation and she was all too willing to enlighten her. She inhaled the scent of water lilies perfuming Umi's hair so strongly, lips almost brushing her tresses in her slight ditraction. "Ah, yes, you are correct. You have poured over every square inch of research I have offered. But textbook knowledge is one thing to scratch the surface, or just feeling the water against your skin passively and hear its song. You have yet to experience the water firsthand and call it as your friend."

Umi's hands once again closed into small balls of mystification. Yes, calling to nature and respecting it as the god of all precious life was essential.

"My friend? I don't see how the water can be my friend," Umi protested. "It's just the way of the world. It can't speak, or think, or do anything that we can do as human beings. It carries the will of the gods, but it does not experience sorrow or joy."

Eli parted Umi's hair to each side and ran the brush down the middle. Things would get tricky at this point. "That is not true, Umi. You would be wise to not think that way about nature. A friendship does not rely on force. You are too forceful."

Silence reigned for a moment while Umi processed this.

"How am I being forceful?" Umi eventually asked. She loved the water, hoped to see the ocean after she and her comrades had successfully battled through the thick of the bitter cold of the north. But… she had been gently plead with the waves that lapped over her skin minutes ago. She had begged with no response.

A hum. "You tell the water to change to your will. You tell it you want to work in harmony, but that is the opposite of what you do. What does the water get out of such a thing? Can it help someone hyperfocused on themselves to properly understand the feelings of the nature aiding them? It is talking to you. The very heat of the river, the life teeming within it you cannot see—it rejects you because you neglect their existence."

Umi's eyes widened. Was that true? Was she breaking the bounds of her responsibility to keep peace with nature? She could not permit herself that atrocity. Hands sweaty out embarrassment and frustration, she carefully traced the blue patterns on her robes. Anyone who specialized water wore a blue robes at work when applicable to show their passion for the water's generosity to life.

"But here is where your issue is." Eli's soothing motions stopped, and she lowered her hands with the brush to her lap. "You are like the knot in your hair. Returning to the example of the priests, they merely listen when the waterfall pours over them—they do not act."

"They listen…" Umi repeated to herself.

"The rest of your hair is beautiful and silky," Eli praised, not able to hold that back, "but that area repels the rest of the hair from looking its best. When the waterfall falls over you, as you mentioned, it works with you and bends along to your form. That knot, your resistance to letting the water work through you as your guiding star, is the force that the water is fleeing from."

Realization dawned on Umi. No, Umi did not feel like she was worthy of the blue robes if such a fundamental lesson had eluded her for this long. Pieces of understanding hopped to place in the jigsaw puzzle.

"Bask in the moment, flow with the water to perceive the right temperature," Eli dropped her hands along with the brush. "You don't tell it to do that; you ask it politely. But you think you have all the control and that negates your connection. You're not appreciate your weapons are nature's force, her will."

Eli briefly dipped her pointer finger above the river water. Instead of dipping it in, she held it above the current. A moment passed. Then, beads of water floated towards against her fingers and attached themselves to her nails as if she were a magnet.

"That's wonderful," Umi breathed. She stared, startled, amazed Working with the water was so simple for her teacher. Her stomach lurched from under her for a moment, but she swelled out her chest again in pride. No, she could do this if Eli was teaching her—after all, she had just taught her the key of it.

Eli flicked the water beads back into the river, where they disappeared in small bubbles. "Of course, I asked the river to help me show you how to properly treat it. It's the same concept when you ask to maintain the weapon's shape. Away from the water, in the hottest of temperatures—you make your purpose known."

Yes… it all boiled down to respect and communication, concepts could grasp. Respect was to be upheld to the highest priority. The water shone in front of her under a beam of sunlight.

"Very well. I'm try it," Umi relented with more confidence.

Eli moved back on the grassy hill as Umi shuffled to her feet. Her robes swayed out at her ankles, and she heaved in a harsh gulp of air at the familiarity of it, forming a stance with her hands. A arrow and bow were in her hands, she thought; she was behind the front lines but as capable as the frontline fighters. The water would join her in the snap and shoot of her arrow's strength. She wanted to shoot the enemy… Maybe not kill. She never wanted to kill, but she would if it meant the people she loved survived.

Like Eli-sensei.

Umi once again knelt. She dipped her fingers into the river stream once again. The warm summer water connected with her skin like a jolt of lightning. The leafy branches of underwater plants barely touched her fingertips; a fish fin just about missing her poking at it on accident. She twirled a circle in the river and counted to herself. One, two, three. The numbers became a chant. One, two, three…

Umi had to imagine it…

Anything would bounce off an ice shield except fire. Even then, if she focused it would keep itself upright and concrete. An ice arrow would be just as lethal a weapon as arrows made out of metal or wood if she shot true. As long as it retained its delicate but powerful shape the combined molecules would never break.

The temperature… it would be as cold as icicles to the heart, so cold that the thrust of the arrow would feel like her enemy was pierced by a comet in the sky, heated from her determination—

Umi loved the water. She wanted to see the water reach its full potential. She wanted her weapons to be feared, just as respected as she respected the water that willingly allowed her access. The water that gave her life, ran through her very blood, the water that she drank to motivate herself after an exhausting workout session when it came to dancing for the gods…

"Please…"

A splash. Another splash.

Water drenched her arms and her sleeves. The fish all scattered and soared upstream in fright. Umi's eyes snapped shut. She had not gotten this kind of response at all until now… No, maybe she made the water angry? But Eli-sensei… She gasped as something solid took form under her hand. At first it was a cold ball, much like a pebble of ice from the Upper World cold regions that Eli had warned her of. Like a sponge, the ball of water absorbed more and more water into itself. Eventually, the water expanded out into a horizontal shape; the water lengthened into a vertical shape, a pole with a triangular end to it.

Feeling the thin pole in her hands, Umi opened her eyes. She stared in amazement at the ice arrow submerged underwater. It was rough in a few places—too chunky—but it was hers. All Umi's senses leapt in a frenzy of excitement and she grinned.

"I did it!" Umi yelled in triumph, lifting the arrow and waving the it in her hand. Noticing her break of character, she blushed at her mistake and ducked her head in disbelief.

Eli look pleased now. Finally, Umi proved she was the apprentice Eli had taken on. She most definitely was not a quitter.

"Excellent work, Umi." Eli clapped her hands. "Now, what you have to worry about is keeping the temperature in that shape for longer than a few minutes. After all, an enemy won't wait for you to run to the nearest river, or pick up snow, for a fresh water supply. We may also be in remote areas where we cannot run directly to the stream whenever you need more water."

Umi nodded. "I will, but I need to work on my shields now—which shall be demanding." The icicle in her hand wavered but continued to harden, small droplets falling back into the river.

"Honestly, so ahead of yourself even after just mastering one lesson. I didn't think you'd take that to heart so easily, but I'm happy. You trade me anxiety for another. Relax and work on keeping that icicle together." Eli waved her hand. She slipped the hairbrush back into their supplies pack. She stood to her feet and delicately brushed off the front of her skirts. "You'll need to be vigilant, that is true. But we'll take one thing at a time. And if you ever get nervous again, I'll just have to brush your hair and remind you how to calm down, won't I?"

Umi's back shot rim-rod straight. Her pupils narrowed in shock, and she breathed in slowly. Usually, when she was alone with Eli, she was only flustered when her own misconceptions about how to work magic. Her ego could be rattled, though Eli seeing her that way did not bother her whatsoever. But… Imagining anyone else from their team, including Kotori and Honoka especially, watching Eli brush her hair would be far too silly for Umi to bear with dignity. She would never live down the teasing.

Umi gracefully crossed her arms over her chest. She subtly pointed the arrow at Eli. Not as a threat, but as a means to get her point across. "That would be too shameless on the battlefield, Eli-sensei."