Seras was determined. She was sick of it too. Sick of her fear. She had a routine that involved her being brought to sit in front of that pool of water. She voluntarily walked every time... at least until she saw it. Then she felt herself lock up. From that point Alucard would help her move closer, sit, and then comfort her until he had her attention. Then she was told a story. He didn't always tell fairytales. Occasionally he told stories about his childhood. Seras started to learn much about Alucard in those times. Then later on she would wake up in her bed, wondering when she had fallen asleep in his arms.

It was so strange. She didn't feel all that frightened lately. Her hand shook when a glass of plain water was delivered but after a moment she managed to drink some. Even Maddis was helping her. He told her stories of the fun her mother had going swimming, assuring her she could have the same. He even bought her a swimsuit. She didn't know if she would ever get that far.

Xxxxxx

This time would be different. Seras was certain. Today she wouldn't freeze. She had told herself this many times before but she was absolute in this. No freezing. No becoming petrified popsicle Seras. What she didn't know is that she was right. She walked in through the door, saw it, shivered and forced herself to keep going. She sat down and kept her eyes on its still surface.

After two weeks of staring at her fears she had finally looked at it and gave it the proverbial middle finger. She was determined to never let it get the best of her like that ever again. She also didn't know that Alucard had been waiting for her to reach this point. He sat down behind her, pulled her on his lap and rather then telling her his customary story or fairytale... he did something very alarming. That black shadow from before converted her and aside from flinching out of shock rather then surprise she didn't resist.

When it was gone she did resist however. Instead of the jeans and a T-shirt she came in wearing, she was now in a bathing suit. His arms clamped around her to prevent escape. She shook and squirmed. However he surprised her by reaching for a large metal mixing bowl with some items inside she hadn't noticed earlier. There was a water pistol, a sponge, some water balloons and even a few yellow rubber Duckies. She stopped squirming. He chuckled at her confusion.

"Seras if I were to just toss you in the water, that would be two weeks of work, quite literally, down the drain. Given a chance, water can provide a great deal of amusement. Trust me."

He kept one arm around her, just in case, while the other emptied the bowl. He filled it with water from the pool and placed it in front of her. Next was him throwing the rubber duckies in the large pool of water. He put the water pistols in the bowl and filled them up. Next he handed one to her and kept one for himself. Still confused she looked at him questioningly. He looked back and seemed to understand that she didn't. He looked at a ducky floating in the water, raised a pistol and squirted water at it. It floated away a few inches. The sight was so ridiculous to Seras that she laughed out loud. For a person so dangerous and skilled with real guns, to raise a gun and just water comes out? It was too much.

So she laughed and raised her own and pulled the trigger. She missed. Frowning she tried again, this attempt also missing. His large gloved hands stopped her. He covered her hands and adjusted her grip and aim. He also leaned in closer with his lips brushing her ears. She nearly dropped it at the sensation which made her nerves tremble.

"Slowly and carefully aim. The barrel always needs to be higher than the target before you shoot. Once your certain your hands are steady, fire. You may need to know this one day for a real gun." Surprised he would say this she nearly looked away. "No. Keep focus. Enemies will not courteously stand still and wait for you if you should become distracted during a fight."

He removed his hands from hers and it took her a moment but she squeezed the trigger. To her delight it was a direct hit. So happy with her success she squeezed the trigger. She cursed when only a drizzle came out. It was empty. She offered it to him so he could refill it. Then she also realized the purpose of this little exercise when he refused to take it. She would have to refill it herself. Oh. That wasn't fair. Just when she had learned to aim! She looked at the bowl of water and reached out nervously. Shaking but determined not to let water keep her from what she wanted like the stairs, she plunged her hand and the pistol into the bowl.

She whimpered and shook, feeling suffocated. She grit her teeth and kept her focus. Water. It was just water. After a good long while she pulled her hand out. Still shaking from the experience it took her a moment to find her aim. Breath. Put the tip of the barrel just about the top of the target. Focus. She squeezed the trigger, gratified when she managed to hit the target. She got ready to shoot again. Just then his lips brushed her ear.

"Good work, Seras." Something about the deep, low tone he used turned her insides to ooze. Jittery from the sensation her aim was off and she hit nothing. She pulled away in surprise and clapped a hand over the offending ear.

"Don't do that!" Determined to get him back she grabbed a sponge from the water and mashed it in his face. She also realized something that had changed about him from the shadow. She gawked as she realized he was only wearing pants. Drips of water traveled down his muscled chest and she suddenly felt very flushed about being in his arms. He was almost smirking and she could have proved it too. If she had managed to pull her eyes away from his chest long enough to look at his face.

"What's the matter Seras? See something you like?"

Shaken by this experience, she looked away and immediately lied. "No!" Feeling suddenly uncomfortable in his arms she tried to jerk out of them and off his lap. His arms were immovable. Scowling she picked up the water gun, aimed and squeezed the trigger. The sooner she did her water exercise the sooner she could escape his arms that were making her all of the sudden very, very nervous.

Xxxxxx

Having seen and heard what she had, Mona was starting to reevaluate what she had decided before. She was finding herself forced to admit that maybe she had been wrong.

Seras, hydrophobic extraordenair, who had resisted all attempts by Mona to cure her for four years now, was showering. She was conscious, standing and behind the curtain by herself. They didn't need chloroform or mind control. Admittedly, she was frightened to be alone which is why her friend agreed to stand on the other side of the curtain, but she was conscious and not screaming. Seras drank plain water, with no food dye out of clear glasses, without prompting. Seras didn't scream in fear when it was spilled on her this morning by a clumsy soldier. Mona argued with herself and tried to find reasons to say 'no' but they were all feeble compared with the other reasons to say 'yes'.

Alucard had helped her conquer hydrophobia. Alucard was a murderous bastard. Alucard had saved Seras's life. Alucard was a murderous, arrogant bastard. Alucard had taught Seras to read. Alucard was a muderous, arrogant bastard with no conscious. Alucard seemed to care and would protect Seras to the ends of the earth. Alucard was a self-centered, arrogant, murderous bastard with no conscious and the moral compass of a sociopath... and he was good for Seras...

What a prick!

She'd need to think it over but it seemed that she would have to speak with him again and admit she had been wrong. He would be gloating for weeks.

Fuck.

Xxxxxx

I know, I know. I'm only doing tiny little chapters with only a little in them. But I promise that the bigger stuff is coming. Hmmm... Maybe I should have misspelled that word just for fun. Anyways I'm working on the AxS part of the story that so far has been absent. I view these Axs stories to come in certain stages.

1. Seras terrified thinks he will hurt her

2. Seras scared uncertain

3. Seras uncertain confused

4. Seras tentatively friendly uncertain

5. Seras friendly happy to see him

6. Seras nervous to see him unknowingly falling for him

7. Seras happy to see him fallen for him misses him when gone, possibly aware or denies her feelings

8. Seras happy to see him aware of her emotions for him

At least that's how I view the typical axs story. So far in IKWYA the romance has really been blink-you-miss-it ninja style with Seras really unaware. I'm mapping it up turning it into the sixth stage. Yay. So I'm going to totally have fun with that but I got to find a way to have that while still keeping these other things going. There's also a reader who has been born on Jan 21 who I want to finish this story for by then. Happy birthday! ... What am I saying?! It's not even New Years yet!

I also have a confession to make... I'm at a loss for what this chapters title should be which is a first, believe me. So a contest proposal. Whoever gives me the best chapter title before I post the next one gets it featured.

-HWKFT