Sweat trickled down Kella's face as she blocked another oncoming attack. She had stopped holding back in training. That didn't mean that she was killing bokoblins unnecessarily, but she wasn't gentle with knocking them out. She was quick, efficient, and brutal.

The blades were a blur as they clashed against each other with a loud clang as metal met metal. She had been working on the same exercise for the past several days, but was still unable to perform it properly. After escalating far enough Ghirahim had decided to let her train with other demons so that she could have a bigger challenge than just fighting a robot. 'It's certainly doing it required effect.' She mused to herself, loosening the grip on the handle of her sword enough so that the demon could see she was clearly ready for the next step in the exercise.

He tapped his sword under hers and swiftly flung it out of her hands and over both of their heads to land on the other side of the arena. "Ready?" He whispered pointedly at her.

"Yeah." She didn't understand why half of the demons were decent to her, and actually seemed to like her, while the other half hated her guts and wanted her dead, but she wasn't about to complain. 'They're demons, and I'm a human. I guess it would be an amazing feat for us to even begin to understand each other.' She shook off the thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

'This is really simple. All I have to do is duck under his blade and skid on my knees so I can get to my sword. Easy.' The task was a lot harder than she made it out to be. She saw his blade coming at her and knew she was supposed to bend backwards as if she was playing limbo and then skid on her knees, but she wasn't that flexible. She quickly ducked down and skidded on her side, ignoring the concrete that burned deep into her skin as she went. The trick wasn't skidding over to the sword, or even ducking the right way. It was grabbing the sword, out of the ground as she went.

She was nearing the sword, and was able to get her fingers around the handle easily enough, but pulling it out of the ground proved to be a lot easier said than done. She tried to pull it out of the ground, however the angle that she was at made it awkward and tense. She ended up skidding right past the sword and crashing into a bucket filled with smaller weapons that poured out the moment she knocked it over.

"Shit." She grunted, brushing the various blades off of her when she heard a slow set of echoing claps surround the room.

"Well done, Skychild, truly. Very elegant."

A growl built up in Kella's throat as she met Ghirahim's amused gaze with an icy glare of her own. "Nobody asked you." She snapped, getting to her feet and stomping past him. "Let's try that again." She addressed her sparring partner, grabbing the sword out of the ground as she passed.

"Are yo-"

She growled out in frustration. "Just go through the bloody exercise with me." She snapped harshly, clashing her sword against his before he had a chance to respond.

"Sure you wouldn't rather take a break?"

"Positive. I'm not a child." She snapped, loosening the grip on her sword so that he could easily knock it over both of their heads, causing it to land several feet behind them next to the demon lord who remained in the room, watching them with his eyes narrowed critically and a deep frown spread across his mouth.

Eyes narrowed with determination Kella prepared herself. She saw the sword coming towards her and bended her knees to duck under it. Once she had falling to her knees she pushed with her hands to propel herself forward towards the sword. She didn't know what it was about this exercise that was so impossible for her, but even when she got down on her knees perfectly she always lost her balance halfway there, or couldn't stay on her knees, or just simply couldn't grab her sword out of the ground. She skidded right past the sword, despite her best efforts to grab it by the blade with her bare hand, which only seemed to aggravate the blisters on her hands as she skidded to a halt on the balls of her feet several metres away from the target.

The anger and frustration that had been building up inside her for several days was starting to make her head feel fuzzy. 'Why can't I get this FUCKING MOVE RIGHT!?' She wanted to scream. She felt like if one more thing went wrong she would.

"I hate to break this to you Skychild but-"

"Shut up!" She snapped teeth grit together in frustration as she quickly skidded back towards the sword, only to pass it entirely. She did the same thing again, and again, over and over until she felt like she would pass out from the fatigue her body was experiencing. Her knees were bleeding from the scrape marks the concrete made on her skin and she was out of breath, but it was clear to everybody that she wasn't about to give up on it anytime soon. She started forward to get some momentum behind her before she tried again but a hand on her chest stopped her.

Ghirahim's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the mess of the hero before him. She was always determined and stubborn, true, but she was rarely this aggressive. "Enough." He said calmly, watching her carefully.

"Not a chanc-"

"No. Enough." He snapped quickly, voice firm and full of power. "You will not do anymore training today, am I understood? You will get yourself cleaned up and relax."

"Wh-"

"I will not have you pushing yourself too far, Kella. You need to learn how to pace yourself and give in to your restrictions."

"Yeah? Who says!?" She snapped, glaring heatedly up at him.

"I do!" He snapped, grasping her shoulder firmly in his hand.

"And who the fucks are you to decide when I've gone too far?"

"I-"

"You wanted to train me. You told me not to be weak. Not to show mercy. So I'm not. You told me to be strong and to pursue what I want until it is mine. Well, I'm doing just that! I want, no, I need to be stronger!" She snapped, yanking her shoulder out of his grasp. "I don't give up. I don't back down. And I certainly don't relax." She spat out the words like they were venom in her mouth. "I don't have the time for relaxation."

"Sky-"

"No! I am talking now, you pompous, arrogant thug! You're a demon. The lord of all demons, in fact! You have all this strength that you keep rubbing in my face. You agreed to train me. Now I'm not going to just give up because of a few scrapes. This move isn't that bloody hard!" She wanted to scream and stomp her feet out of frustration, but refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her behaving like a child. "I've been at this for days! I should have mastered it by now, but nope! My body just won't do what I bloody well want it too!"

"You're a human, Kella. You have to be patient. Some extra work and effort is to be expected. You're no demon after all."

"What the fuck do you know about being human!?" She was just picking a fight now, but she didn't care. She was furious. Furious at Ghirahim, furious at the demons she sparred with, but most of all she was furious at herself. The training was supposed to be making her stronger, it was supposed to teach her skills to defeat foes twice as powerful as she was, but she didn't feel any stronger. The more she tried the more she failed, and the more she failed the weaker she felt.

"I know that humans are weaker than demons and not as flexible. I know that it's going to take a human quite a bit longer than a demon to accomplish a move like this, and I know that working yourself up and pushing yourself so hard every minute of the day is not going to make you stronger, it is just going to weaken you!"

"Who says? I'm a perfectionist! I don't stop until I've mastered something, so why is this any different?"

"Because-"

"Because what? Huh? What amazing words of wisdom do you have for me?"

"Because you'll kill yourself doing it!" He snapped, grabbing her shoulders tightly as he stared intently in her eyes. "If you don't stop to take a break, sooner or later you are going to kill yourself!"

Kella blinked at him, eyes narrowed. The tone of his voice almost sounded like he cared. He was getting protective like this more and more often and she always questioned if he really did care about her, if he did what he did for a better reason than the sadistic ones she had seen so far. It took her a long time to reply, and when she did she sounded tired and defeated.

"Fine. I'll take a break, just this once." She practically snapped, shaking him off and stalking past him towards the door to the room.


"You know, you don't have to follow me. I'm perfectly capable of finding ways to occupy my time, allll by myself." Ghirahim had been following her ever since she left the skyview temple at the edge of Faron woods where she did all her training now. At first she had ignored him, but that proved to be an even bigger challenge than she had originally anticipated the farther in the forest they went. His echoing footsteps and constant aura that seemed to surround her with every step they took was a constant presence in her mind.

"I beg to differ." He smirked at her as he followed close behind, his hands clasped behind his back. "It is obvious you are very eager to continue your training. Who's to say that you won't just continue practicing as soon as I'm gone?"

'Smarty pants.' She sighed, frustrated as she continued through the trees, a small grin spreading on her lips as she turned a corner and found herself in front of the broken bridge that led to the doorway to the Ancient Cistern.

Ghirahim was far from amused by her actions, but held his tongue eyes narrowed as he watched her. 'What is she up to?'

Letting out a small giggle, Kella jumped off of the edge of the pavement, all the worry and stress she had been fighting to keep bottled up seeming to melt away as she brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them close to her body as her body fell into the water with a loud splash, sending a spray of water in all directions.

She let out a content sigh as she moved her arms in circles to keep herself afloat, letting the cool water wash over her. "What are you doing?" Kella peeked open one eye to glance up at the demon lord, eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean?"

"What is it exactly that you're trying to accomplish here?" Ghirahim had an unattractive sneer on his face as he glowered down at her, hand on his hip.

"It's called swimming." She had meant it as a sarcastic comment but his expression shifted into one of confusion.

"Swimming?"

"Yeah. Y'know, that fun activity where you go in water for kicks." His facial expression shifted from disgust to one of the utmost confusion. "Wait... do you really not know what swimming is?"

"No..."He blinked, sitting down on the pavement with his legs crossed under him. "Explain."

"Well, it's something that we pathetic humans enjoy." Her voice was dry with sarcasm. "We go in the water, move our fragile, mortal limbs around to keep afloat, and actually don't die for a change."

He blinked at her, eyes widening with every word. "And you do this... by choice?" He seemed disgusted and baffled all at the same time.

"Yeah, more or less." She shrugged nonchalantly as she ducked her head under water and spun under water before just appeared at the surface, diving out of the water like a dolphin and landing in a roll on land, her hair drenched. "It's really fun, actually." She grinned at him, letting her finger brush along the surface of the water as she sat down with her feet kicking absently under the water.

He shook his head, disgusted. "Leave it to a human to find such mundane ways to spend her time." He sniffed; finding the idea of voluntarily going in, what to him looked like filthy water, absolutely repulsive.

Kella raised her eyebrows at him before a sly smile spread across her face. "Don't knock it until you try it." She grinned, pushing herself off of the bridge and slipping into the water. "Why don't you give it a try?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You cannot be serious?"

"Well, I mean, you did want me to relax, and not having to worry about you watching me like a creeper would definitely help that." She grinned at him.

"Oh, my dear. As much as I do indeed, want you to relax, it would take a miracle to get me in that water. I would rather eviscerate myself, and then be castrated then enter such..." He paused, looking for a word strong enough to express his disdain. "Disagreeable conditions." He stood up to his full height, arms crossed over his chest.

"Whoa. Graphic." She wrinkled her nose at the mental image he had painted for her. "Com-" She broke off pointedly as she felt her body sinking under the water, thrashing with her arms quickly as she went down.

"Kella?" Ghirahim peered down into the water, eyebrows furrowed as he knelt down on the stony pavement and leaned over the water, worry starting to prick at him like an incessant gadfly. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He couldn't teleport her out because the water was too thick a substance. He couldn't teleport things outside of places like liquid, only things that were on solid earth. He carefully pulled his silky white gloves off of his hands and hesitantly started to place his hands under the water's surface.

The water was ice cold, and it sent shivers up and down his spine. Magic and sword techniques he could trust. He was a master in those areas and he was perfectly comfortable with them because of how well he knew them, but when it came to things akin to water and even feelings, things that he had little to no experience with, he wasn't sure. He couldn't quite grasp what it was but it felt like claws grasping his heart and squeezing it tightly, making him question if he could even emerge from the situation safely, and causing his usual level head to become murky.

He had just decided that he needed to think of something, or else his pupil would surely perish on a day that was supposed to be filled with relaxation, when he felt a set of fingers wrap around his wrist and pull him quickly down into the water.

The water was even colder now that his whole body was submerged in it, his clothes felt tight against his skin and he felt an odd sense of panic built up in him.

Kella's head broke the surface, a light laugh building in her throat as she pushed her soaking wet hair out of her face and looked around. "Okay, I know you're probably sick with rage, but you have to admit it was a pretty clever prank!" She gloated, crossing her arms over her chest triumphantly. When she heard no yelling, no laughter, no clapping or even sarcastic comebacks she halted her celebration. "Ghirahim?" She glanced around, eyes narrowed in confusion when she felt something hit her leg none-too-gently. "Oh my goddess!" She quickly ducked back under the surface, the water dragon's scale humming with the beating of her heart and helping her obtain the oxygen she needed while under the water,

Ghirahim wasn't doing too horribly. She could tell that he was trying to keep calm but his hair was disheveled and he was moving his arms around violently as if he expected to be able to fight the water. She grasped his hands tightly in her own, guilt making her heart hurt, and guided him to the water's surface.

His hair was soaking wet, along with the rest of him and he looked alive with rage as he felt his once perfect hair droop under the weight of the water. He was on dry land in an instant, his pale hands leaving hers instantly, he put his hands on his hips, glaring down at the so-called 'hero' before him.

"Before you say anything-"She stopped in her tracks at the dark, almost murderous glare he gave her. "Look, it was just a joke okay?" She continued, meekly crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't think you-"

"We are not talking about me, Skychild, we are talking about you!" He was furious. Not only had he been dragged into the water by such a pathetic creature, but he had made a fool of himself while in the water. He was humiliated and it was all because of a weak human child who, for reasons unknown even to him, he had cared about enough to go near the water in the first place!

"I'm sorry, okay?" He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, whipping his head around so that he didn't have to look at her anymore. 'Fuck.' She was surprised by how guilty she felt over the joke, but brushed it off as she climbed out of the water to sit on the edge. " Why didn't you say you don't know how to swim?" She questioned hesitantly.

"It was irrelevant to the conversation."

"Hm..." She looked down at her hands. "You know, humans learning to swim... isn't always by choice." She fumbled with her sleeves in frustration. "I mean ninety percent of the time, yeah it is. Kids see the water in Skyloft and want to be able to swim in it. But the other ten percent?" She glanced over at Ghirahim who still had his back to her. "It's a simple case of kids wandering so close to the water that they need to know how to swim if they don't want to drown."

"Why are you telling me this?" He snapped quickly, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

"Look, I get why you're mad. Really, I do." She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "But, I'm trying to apologize here, okay? I'm trying to make it up to you. I fucked up, yeah, but..."

"What exactly are you blabbering about?"

She sighed. "Look, I can teach you how to swim... If you want to learn, that is. I mean, you're this all powerful demon so I definitely understand if you don't want to learn, but I mean if you do happen to want to learn, I could help!" She spoke rapidly, babbling nervously as she picked at her fingernails, making odd gestures with her hands as she started to speak quicker and quicker.

A light, almost adoring laugh echoed around them as Ghirahim placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him, effectively quieting her anxious rambling. "Oh, my Skychild. You are positively adorable when you're nervous." The words were out before either of them knew what happened. Ghirahim kept a calm mask, a confident smirk on his face as he knelt down on his knees next to her, and it wouldn't be until later that evening that he would realize what he had just said.

"Stop laughing at me!" She huffed, looking away from him quickly. "Forget it, this is ridiculous." She hopped up to her feet and started to stalk past him, but his warm fingers wrapped around her bicep forced her to stop in her tracks.

"Not at all." He grinned. "I would be deeply honored to have someone like you teach me this fine art of swimming." His voice was slow and enticing and his words were meant to be part of his charm.

'Wait, what?' "Are you serious?" She couldn't stop the surprise from coating every word she spoke as she stared up into his eyes, confusion written across her face.

"As a war, my dear." He grinned at her. "It only seems fair, after all I am teaching you all about battle and demons. Why shouldn't I learn a few skills in the process?"

"You really don't care that these are human skills?" She questioned, eyes narrowed skeptically.

"Although by far a weak species, you humans do appear to have several useful skills that even someone as powerful as I could benefit from."

"So... allow me to translate," She grinned slyly up at him. "Humans are weak, but we taught ourselves skills that you, an all powerful demon find useful?"

"Well, if you want to sum it up," He rolled his eyes. "Humans have no sense of dramatic flair." He sounded disappointed as he studied her face. "So, do we have a deal?" He questioned releasing her and extending his hand towards her.

She couldn't stop an excited grin from spreading across her face as she shook his hand a bit too eagerly. "Deal."


Here you guys go! This came out a LOT later than I wanted it to, but here it is! Let me know if you guys think that any of the characters were ooc!

Review?