Phobia
Rasielle
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She knew it the moment she took his hand; she knew it as he had squeezed hers softly, reassuringly, and then tugged her gently forward as he swam a little further. It was, in actuality, further than she had ever dared to go, and as she let him lead her into deeper waters, she felt the floor sink below her feet, felt her lose her sense of ground.
No vibrations then, nothing to trust by the ripples of the water's surface that slapped the sides of her face.
Her fate fell out of her hands, and for the first time, she felt vulnerable.
---
His hand was outstretched as he sat in the shallowest area of the water, his offer to lead her to the center of the pool still very open. She hesitated to take it, and as her hand came slowly forward, she jerked it back.
---
It was all too easy to know that the only way to stay afloat was to trust the water completely, to let it hold you. But she was blind, still very young – only six years old – and the ground was all that kept her secure. Without it, she hung in the midst of something she couldn't understand, and it was more than she could tolerate. Fear gripped her, and when she could not keep her head above the surface, she began to thrash.
Fear quickly yielded to panic, and in blind horror, she let go out of her father's hand.
---
"Come on, Toph," Aang was coaxing her, and before she could move, he had taken her hand anyway and was swimming with unnecessary speed. He didn't hear her sudden yelp, for he had gone underwater and was slowly taking Toph with him.
---
Nothing afterwards was vivid; she could remember that throbbing fear only increasing by a tenfold as the water closed in on her neck. She remembered her mouth opening for her instinctive scream, but water only filled it instead. She remembered her helplessness and despair as she flailed her arms around in desperation, hoping to catch her father's hand.
He found her and brought her to his chest. By his strength, they rose and broke the water's surface, finding their escape with a great exploding crash. As the cold air smacked their faces, they remembered to breathe, father and daughter both, but the latter could only scream..
---
They were completely submerged underwater at this point, and Aang only kept swimming.
The ancient, familiar terror gripped her again, and she struggled more desperately than before, kicking her legs and mourning the loss of ground. She startled Aang, who turned suddenly and saw her panic. His eyes widened, and she prayed that he would take the two of them up to the surface, as her father had done those many years ago, but to her horror, he only sought her other hand.
With both, he held on tight. He looked at her feet, and concentration crossed his face. But as Toph shot forward to lash at him, she felt something peculiar stir under her feet and around her waist, and that peculiar something held her securely underwater, like an invisible harness, and it propelled her slowly upward.
Arriving upon the surface was not quite as messy as it could've been, and taking her breath back in gulps, Toph couldn't do more than stare at Aang. He had Waterbended to give her a sense of security down there, obviously, and it had worked - but her rage either way was terrible.
As soon as she'd coughed all the water out of her windpipe, she yelled herself hoarse, not stopping until Aang was as red as a beet.
But she hadn't let go of his hands, and she wasn't intending to.
---
"I'll never swim AGAIN, Father!" the little girl had shrieked later that night, and she punctuated her words with a very violent stomp.
---
"Okay, Toph, we're going to try this again, but I'll need you to keep from panicking this time, all right?" Aang said to her as they sat together, back at the pool's shallow shore.
"Panicking? I wasn't panicking! You're just stupid, Twinkle-Toes; when am I going to need to swim, anyway?" Toph protested, her voice loud enough to hide the fear, loud enough to keep from quivering.
Aang winced.
"This was your idea," he grumbled, but he took both her hands this time, and their second time around the lake was a very unlikely improvement.
---
fin.
Afterthoughts: Hey! I'm officially a Toph/Aang shipper! Woot!
BTW – THE MIAMI HEAT WON! They may not know it, man, but they've got all my love right now. THIS FIC IS FOR YOU, GUYS!